Jane Bolin
Jane Matilda Bolin
1908 – 2007
Jane Bolin was the first Black woman to serve as judge in the United States. But this maven of jurisprudential history amassed an impressive list of “firsts” along her way to serving as judge:
• First Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School
• First Black women to join the New York City Bar Association
• First Black woman to join the New York City Law Department
• First Black person to attend Williams College
Bolin was a focused scholar. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1928. At her graduation, Bolin was named a Wellesley Scholar, a distinction given to the top 20 in the class.
Born in Poughkeepsie, Bolin was a New Yorker through in through. It was beloved former New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia that had the honor of swearing in Bolin as judge. While on the bench, Bolin mostly presided over family court cases. Bolin was also a children’s rights activist. During her tenure as a judge, Bolin worked with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt on developing pathways to eliminate juvenile crime.
